“Core values define who we are, guide our decision-making and govern how we act as a community,” Argonne Director Paul Kearns told employees at Tuesday’s all-hands meeting.
Kearns and Chief of Staff Megan Clifford presented the laboratory’s new core values to employees who watched in locations across the site and remotely via live stream. These values are:
- Impact — We think creatively, pursue innovative ideas and deliver excellence to positively change our community, nation and world.
- Safety — We take personal responsibility for the safety, security and well-being of ourselves, those around us and our environment.
- Respect — We embrace diversity, value the perspectives and contributions of others and act professionally toward all.
- Integrity — We are honest, keep our commitments and take responsibility for our actions and outcomes.
- Teamwork — We include and inspire others, share and communicate openly and celebrate success as one Argonne team.
“These values are more than just words,” Clifford stressed. They are ideals and behaviors for employees to embrace and exemplify every day.
The desire to reinvigorate the laboratory’s core values grew out of the results of the recent employee climate survey. There was good news in the results — including that a majority of employees agree a diverse workforce is essential for Argonne to be a world-class laboratory — but the survey also revealed opportunities for improvement. There is still a need to cultivate more trust within the laboratory community and to create a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment.
The leadership team agreed that in order to do this, the first step is to build a foundation of core values.
As Kearns and Clifford explained, this foundation also is key both to the laboratory’s vision — Our Science Changes the World — and to the success of the Impact Argonne initiative, which focuses on leadership in science and technology, operational excellence and a world-class community of talent.
“You will hear more in the coming weeks and months about how you can participate in further defining and demonstrating these values. We want to know what they mean to you and hear your ideas on how we can make them uniquely ours,” Kearns said. “I encourage you to become part of that conversation and embrace our core values. We are a team. Together we create the culture of the lab. And I am confident that we will continue to make a positive impact on our community, nation and world.”
Visit the Core Values Conversation crowdsourcing website and add your thoughts on examples of core values in action. This hyperlink has been reviewed and certified by Argonne Information Security (Cyber Security) as safe.
If you have questions, or for more information on Argonne’s core values, please contact listen@anl.gov.